Local News

Mills County’s budget for next year is going down.
The Mills County Board of Supervisors has formally approved the county’s 2014-2015 budget at $21.7 million. That figure is nearly $6 million less than the county’s 2013-2014 fiscal year budget.

If Glenwood residents approve the construction of an outdoor aquatic center in next month’s $4.75 million bond issue election, the new facility would likely be managed by staff from the Mills County YMCA.

“The city council’s perception is that’s probably the best route to go,” city administrator Brian Kissel said. “They (YMCA) already have what they call a CPO – a certified pool operator. If we could take that person and manage the outdoor pool, that person could serve dual purposes.”

It’s been a busy couple of weeks for area firefighters.
Since Mills County issued a county-wide burning barn beginning March 19, local fire departments have battled 17 grass fires all over the county, stoked by dry, windy conditions.

Due to the abnormally warm temperatures and several months of below normal precipitation, Mills County Emergency Management polled the local fire department chiefs of Mills County and the Mills County Supervisors resulting in a consensus vote to issue the burn ban.

One day after the Mills County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution opposing the reserve designation, members of the Loess Hills Alliance board of directors put an end to their pursuit of the federal protection.

The Mills County vote took place Tuesday after supervisors listened to public comments on both sides of the issue.

Glenwood Fire Chief Robert “Butch” Fidler said a discarded cigarette on an outside deck was the likely cause of an early-morning fire Saturday that resulted in extensive damageto a two-story duplex at 511 S. Hazel St.

Fidler said the Glenwood Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched to the scene around 3:30 a.m. after occupants of the residence were awakened by a crackling sound and discovered the fire. Firefighters from Pacific Junction and Oak Township assisted at the scene, Fidler said.

MALVERN - Faith Ridge Life Center, a 51-bed skilled nursing facility in Malvern, and 21-bed Kevington Lane in Sidney will close later this year as a result of the owner’s ongoing financial woes and legal struggles with the state of Iowa.

Mary Morse-Bolton and her two facilities owe the state over $400,000 in Medicaid overpayments and health care taxes, according to lawyers and representatives of the Iowa Department of Human Services. On Friday, a district court judge in Des Moines honored the state’s request to begin the process of closing the facilities.

A Mills County jury needed less than an hour of deliberations last week to find a Nebraska man guilty of sexual abuse charges against two children.

John R. Schondelmeyer, 64, of Bellevue, Neb., was found guilty of two counts of second-degree sexual abuse, a Class B felony, and two counts of lascivious acts with a child, a Class C felony. His trial lasted just one day and included emotional and descriptive testimony from two female victims, who were 7 and 8 years old at the time the crimes were committed in their home last September.

A 66-year-old Glenwood man will not go to prison for carrying a gun on school grounds.

Lyle Hillhouse was carrying a 12-gauge shotgun when he was arrested near the Glenwood Middle School Dec. 2. Hillhouse was initially charged with carrying a weapon on school grounds, a Class D felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.

Hillhouse, who was arrested on school district property near the Keg Creek pedestrian bridge, told arresting officers he was intending to use the gun to hunt squirrels.

A 35-year-old Pacific Junction man is facing multiple charges, including attempted murder, after fleeing from law enforcement officers and ramming a Mills County Sheriff’s SUV while the deputy was standing near the vehicle.